Due to the popularity of the of the “Story Time” threads, I figured; Why not try something new?

We’ve been having a slight issue with the plot lines getting overly-complicated in the story thread, and the number of characters are kinda muddying things up a bit. I’ve been wracking my brains to try and figure out a solution for this, without restricting the creativity of the writers too much.

Here’s what I propose: Let’s, as a community, write a novella.

The story will have a set universe, and the characters involved will be working towards a specific end goal. This will prevent the plots from spiraling into oblivion, and won’t prevent writers from having a bit of creative control over the story.

There will only be a set number of characters involved unless someone PM’s me and I approve the addition. This is to prevent over-complication of the story. I’m thinking everyone who would like to be involved can create a character-sheet, and submit them to me for consideration. I’ll then start the story with a select number of characters, then post the unused character sheets that I feel will work well in the story via a third-party site such as github.

Each person will have the opportunity to claim a text block after the other writer finishes, that person will then have a set amount of time to write that block and post it to the page.

Once the story is complete, (which should take some time considering this is supposed to be a novella), we’ll compile the story into a readable book form. (chapters, pages, etc.)

I’ve had a few bring up these concerns, and this the best option I could think of to address them. What do you guys think of this proposition? Is there anything you would like to add? Is there anything you would like to change? Do you have another suggestion all together?

@epigirl08 It’s pretty straightforward stuff. Name, age, physical description, likes, dislikes, bio… that sort of thing. I’ll try to make a template for the character sheets once I have a better idea of what story I’d like to use. (I’ll allow people to submit multiple characters as well.)

@SirGrumps You don’t need to be the most amazing writer in the world to contribute. In this format, it should be pretty easy to follow along with what’s already going on. Plus, other writers can pick up the slack if you miss something or leave out details.

I figured with the character sheets, the creators have creative control over their characters traits and personality. Others can still direct those characters, but the characters actions have to reflect the original characters traits.

IE: Character X is a force for good, and is going on a journey to find the lost sword of narnia. Somebody else can’t come in and just make Character X murder an entire village for shits and giggles, because X is already a morally good character.

However, characters can still evolve in the story.

IE: Character X is a force for good, however he must kill Character Y for the good of humanity. The slaying of Character Y unhinges Character X, and Character X goes nutters.

There will only be a set number of characters involved unless someone PM’s me and I approve the addition. This is to prevent over-complication of the story. I’m thinking everyone who would like to be involved can create a character-sheet, and submit them to me for consideration. I’ll then start the story with a select number of characters, then post the unused character sheets that I feel will work well in the story via a third-party site such as github.

Which I think is a good idea. So all of the character sheets will be available on a third party web site to look at and base your block of the story off of? This is a good idea. Also, I defiantly think reserving a block of writing is crucial so we don’t have a story splitting in three different directions. Or maybe there is another way to prevent that from happening?

A book written by the Imgurian Community, if it bodes well, shall be pinned in the Arts Section not only for posterity but because i hope the story never ends and to encourage other writers to write after reading your epic adventures.

The eyes of the community are upon you. The hopes and prayers of dog/cat/other-loving people everywhere march with you. March off brothers and sisters and let your creative minds be unleashed like a dog who hasn’t seen his master in over a year.

Each person will have the opportunity to claim a text block after the other writer finishes, that person will then have a set amount of time to write that block and post it to the page.

That’s what this bit is for. You reserve the next text block, however it has a time limit (to be decided) so that one person can’t stall the entire story.

Because it’s supposed to be more of a story, rather than a soap opera of people flinging ideas in out of nowhere, you’ll have to continue where the previous writer left off. New characters can be introduced (from the character sheets) in your writing, however the story should be very linear.

I’m not completely sure how to address this issue, if you have any suggestions on how to avoid this, I’ll be more than happy to hear them. It may just be a necessary evil. Any story written in a thread like this is going to be a little chaotic, it may be unavoidable.

And as @tahtienseta said above, hopefully it won’t be as much of an issue with a linear story line.

I'm working on a short story that revolves around the concept of life after humans, and the reintroduction of humans after a mass extinction event.
This got me thinking a bit, how do you think we would go about this? What sort of technology would we need? What challenges would we, as a species, face? Do you think that reintroducing an extinct human race into the world would be a worthwhile endeavor?
In my story, humans are 'birthed' artificially by autonomous chambers using provided genet…

Or maybe some kind of group fan-fiction? I wouldn’t be against a potterverse story.

Don’t worry too much. I’m just brainstorming so don’t fret!
I think this is turning out wonderfully but I’m a perfectionist, (which is why I want to work in Non- profit Management).
I like to ask questions to get my own thoughts going so if that is annoying just let me know.

My only thought is that if someone writes a block that has already been claimed perhaps you, myself, or someone else willing to kind of ‘mod’ the story can PM them and ask them if they are willing to delete it or modify it for a later story block?

There’s nothing wrong with that at all. I think this format is going to be a bit more ambitious than the previous threads, so I’d like to be as prepared as possible before we actually start it.

We might implement some kind of moderation to enforce the rules. It could be a bit difficult though since we don’t have any actual control over the threads. If we could get an actual moderator like @SpaceWolves or @AmiAthena to oversee the thread, that would probably be the best bet.